Fly Club 2 2

[Hepcat]

Notice that the sinister Cat Girl who made her debut appearance in Adventures of the Fly 9:

After one further appearance in Adventures of the Fly 10 x-over to bedevil the Jaguar in issue #4:

Like Queen Mera over in Aquaman, Cat-Girl would become a regular guest starlet in Adventures of the Jaguar with further appearances in issues #5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13  & 14. She gave herself a makeover donning the sexier new duds with a view to luring the dashing Jaguar into her boudoir in issue #6:

Edited May 3 by Hepcat

[Hepcat]

Adventures of the Fly 1 hit newsstands 65 years ago this month:

Penciller: Jack Kirby
Inker: Joe Simon

The Fly's origin was fleshed out in this story:

"The Strange New World of the Fly"

Script: Joe Simon
Artwork: Jack Kirby

The Fly's two-part origin tale was indeed "atmospheric, dark and creepy". Tommy Troy, a fifteen(?) year old resident of the Westwood Orphanage, decides that he must confront the superintendent, old Aaron Creacher, with respect to the ongoing food shortfalls and cruel treatment of the boys in the orphanage. In the hall outside Creacher's office, Troy overhears Creacher being threatened by gambling den operator McCoy and another man over Creacher's gambling debts. It seems that Creacher has been embezzling orphanage funds to meet his gambling debts, albeit not aggressively enough for McCoy's satisfaction. Tommy Troy though is discovered listening in on the conversation.

Fearing exposure, Creacher decides to farm out Tommy Troy to an old wizard named Ben March and his wife Abigail who occupy the local haunted house. The Marchs' intention is to employ Troy as an unpaid servant/slave and thus have no interest in any of Tommy Troy's tales.

Piqued by curiousity, Tommy Troy one day decides to check out the attic room (fortuitously unlocked that day) where the March couple is rumoured to conduct arcane ceremonies. Despite the room being filled with exotic artifacts, fatigue from overwork catches up to Troy and he dozes off to sleep. When he awakens, he sees a strange ring. When he puts it on, a strangely garbed humanoid figure appears and identifies himself as Turan of the Fly People. The Fly People had been a race with magical powers who had previously inhabited the Earth. But greed and power hunger had prompted an outbreak of a magical variant of total war which had reduced most of the Fly People to household flies. A handful had escaped the ravages of the war by fleeing to another dimension where they then dedicated themselves to battling greed and crime wherever it was to be found. Having ascertained that Tommy Troy was pure of heart while he slept, Turan tells Troy that rubbing the magic ring and wishing would enable him to change into the Fly. 
 
Turan tells Troy that as the Fly he will have these special powers:
 
1. The ability to walk on walls (and ceilings presumably).

2. The strength of 100 men.

3. A 360 degree field of vision without turning his head.

4. The ability to escape any trap.

After Turan disappears, Tommy Troy decides to aid the kids at the orphanage as the Fly. He finds McCoy and his henchman gleefully dividing up orphanage funds with Aaron Creacher. (Why McCoy was allowing the indebted Creacher to keep any part of the monies doesn't make sense.) The Fly of course quickly overpowers them all and turns them over to the police. He then finds that a reverse transformation back to Tommy Troy can be effected by rubbing the ring and wishing once again.

Not bad at all for an origin tale!

"The Fly Discovers His Buzz Gun" (5 pages)

Script: Joe Simon
Artwork: Jack Kirby

One morning mean old Abigail March sends poor Tommy Troy off to get groceries before her husband now also known as Ezra puts Troy back to work scrubbing floors and such. A love interest is introduced into the series as a comely blonde of about Tommy Troy's age stops her bike by Troy as he's coming back from the grocery store. She says that she's noticed he's moved into the old March house and introduces herself as Dolly Lake from just down the street.

They're then almost sideswiped by a getaway car with gunmen shooting at a pursuing police cruiser. Troy changes to the Fly behind Dolly Lake's back and goes to the aid of the police. He employs his Buzz Gun which has special stingers that are able to put ordinary mortals to sleep. (In future issues we learn that this Buzz Gun of his isn't often useful in slowing down more elaborate menaces.)

He's hit in the arm by one of the crooks' bullets though. Before passing out from the pain he rubs the ring to change back into Tommy Troy. Seeing the freshly reappeared Troy, Dolly notices that his arm is hurt. Too pure of heart to suggest any imaginative ways through which Dolly could nurse him back to vibrant good health, Troy merely allows her to think that he tripped and fell onto a sharp rock. Given that he no longer seems as badly hurt as he was as the Fly, there's an implication that turning back to Tommy Troy cures injuries sustained as the Fly. There's no further elucidation in this regard however.

"Come Into My Parlor" (7 pages)

Script: Joe Simon
Artwork: Jack Kirby

In this story the Fly battles the misshapen super criminal Spider Spry who has unusual climbing abilities and is a master at employing nets. It seems that the nasty Spider Spry and his gang have hijacked jewels Batista was trying to secret out of Cuba. Really! While fighting Spider Spry the Fly finds that he's vulnerable to bright lights but overcomes this weakness and apprehends Spider. The vulnerability to bright lights does not prove to be an ongoing weakness for the Fly over the course of his crime fighting career, however.

"Magic Eye" (4 pages)
 
Script: Joe Simon
Artwork: George Tuska

The Fly steps in to stop the destructive rampage of the robot creation of genius inventor Mr. Lighthouse. It turns out though that the Fly has it backward. Mr. Lighthouse has been tipped into a frenzy of destruction because he's lost control of his robot Glen Glim who's gained possession of the control panel. The Fly however soon cleverly ascertains which is which and turns Glen Glim's switch to OFF. Why the genius inventor was busting things up like a deranged robot isn't satisfactorily explained though.

The Adventures of the Fly 1 also contains a Shield story of just over a page which would act to deter most readers from ever buying a copy of a comic featuring said Shield. The issue also has a useful page devoted to "The 'Gentle Art' of Jiu Jitsu":

Good stuff! But more advisedly practiced on your younger siblings than on the schoolyard tough....

The Fly would go on to have a relatively lengthy publication history in the Silver Age rivalling that of second tier DC heroes such as Hawkman and the Atom:

The Double Life of Private Strong 1-2 (1959)
Adventures of the Fly 1-30 (1959-1964)
Laugh Comics 128, 129, 132, 134, 137, 138, 139 (1961-1962)
Pep Comics 151, 154, 160 (1961-1963)
Fly Man 31-39 (1965-1966)
Mighty Crusaders 1-7 (1965-1966)

Issue #5 would take place nine years after issue #4 by which point Thomas Troy would be an adult working as a lawyer. His powers would then become defined as those possessed by any insect multiplied to the nth power. These would not only include the power of flight with his previously strictly decorative wings and the strength of a million ants plus super durability, but also the ability to mentally control insects.

Here I've listed the creative talents who worked on the title issue by issue:

Scripts

1-4 Joe Simon
5-28 Robert Bernstein
29-39 Jerry Siegel

Artwork

1 Jack Kirby/Joe Simon, George Tuska
2 Dick Ayers/Paul Reinman, Al Williamson/Angelo Torres, Jack Kirby/Joe Simon
3 Jack Davis, Joe Simon, Bob Powell, Paul Reinman
4 Ted Galindo/Chic Stone, Joe Simon, Neal Adams*, Sol Brodsky, Bob Powell
5 Bill Vigoda
6-9 John Giunta
10 Martin Epp, John Giunta
11-26 John F. Rosenberger
27-28 John F. Rosenberger, John Giunta
29-30 John Giunta
31-39 Paul Reinman

* Just one panel of Neal Adams' artwork was inserted in a story otherwise drawn by Joe Simon:

It's also interesting that the first Golden Age hero to reappear in the Silver Age was Black Hood in the July 1960 issue #7 of Adventures of the Fly. Black Hood and the Fly would exchange secret identities in this issue while foiling sinister foreign spies in Germany. The Jay Garrick Flash would not make his reappearance in Flash 123 for over a year.

[Q.N.S.]

I've been slowly picking up low-grade fly on the sly... 

 

 

[Hepcat]

Four more of my Adventures of the Fly comics:

15

16 Bethlehem copy

17

18

 

Edited June 8 by Hepcat

[Hepcat]

Five more of my Adventures of the Jaguar:

6

7

8

9

10

[Hepcat]

Four more issues of my Adventures of the Fly:

19

20

21

22